The following is an edited statement from the prime minister of Jamaica.

We give God thanks for sparing us to see 2026, and we pause to remember the lives lost to Hurricane Melissa, the third most powerful hurricane ever recorded globally, and the most destructive storm ever to strike Jamaica.

In the 65 years since 1960, the Atlantic has produced 799 recorded storms. Remarkably, one quarter of them — 201 — occurred in just the last decade. Of the 34 Category 5 hurricanes recorded since 1960, 14 have occurred since 2015. And every year since then Jamaica has been impacted by a weather or climate-related event.

The climate is changing. Our oceans are warming. Weather events are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more destructive. A once-in-50 years event now seems to happen every five. No one expected Jamaica to be hit by Hurricane Beryl in 2024…and then Hurricane Melissa in 2025. But this is the new global reality.

And climate is only one dimension of the uncertainty we face. The global order is shifting. Geopolitical and geoeconomic manoeuvring are reshaping trade, supply chains, peace and security, the multilateral system, and technology.

While no one can predict the future with certainty, the analysis is clear: Climate, geopolitical, and economic shocks will create crises in 2026. We must, therefore, use our strengths, seize opportunities, overcome our weaknesses, and protect ourselves from the threats that will come. We must prepare to withstand crises, absorb their impacts, and recover quickly.

As I look back on almost a decade of leading this country, we have faced multiple, increasingly intense, and overlapping crises. From the once-in-a-century COVID-19 pandemic to global supply chain disruptions and inflation, to several major weather events, including two major hurricanes, one of them the most devastating in our history.

And on the social front we confronted an epidemic of murders and violence perpetrated by gangs that captured entire communities.

Without fear of contradiction, no other prime minister and Government of Jamaica has faced the number and magnitude of crises that my Administration has had to address. And, equally, without fear of empirical contradiction, no other Administration can show the results of achievements of the last 10 years.

Today, I am pleased to report that approximately 90 per cent of customers islandwide now have electricity, telecommunications, and water restored, including parts of Black River. We have launched an extensive programme of school repairs, and we expect all students, especially those preparing for exams, to return to classes using rotational modalities where necessary.

Our hospitals are being repaired and brought back online, supported where needed by field hospitals. I want to specially recognise our nurses and doctors, who have given unbroken service throughout this disaster. And I extend sincere commendation to all our first responders — the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), and our emergency teams — who ensured a credible and effective relief response.

There was extensive damage to homes, and I know many Jamaicans cannot rebuild on their own or need additional support. Because of the sound economic management of my Administration, we are in a position to respond effectively, as we did during COVID-19 with one of the largest direct social care programmes in our history, and again after Beryl, when over 16,000 Jamaicans received rehabilitation and rebuilding grants.

Shortly, we will launch a targeted home repair and household rehabilitation programme for people assessed as being tangibly affected by Hurricane Melissa. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has already conducted over 50,000 assessments, giving us the critical mass of data needed to begin payments. The JDF, along with volunteer engineering corps from Ghana and Guyana, is already restoring roofs. Modular semi-permanent housing solutions have been ordered to shelter those who have lost their entire homes.

My Jamaican family, your Government is working tirelessly to ensure the resources are in place to support your recovery. But a crisis also provides a brief window for a turning point. Hurricane Melissa has given us that window, an opportunity to build forward better, both in the affected areas and across nationally strategic infrastructure and economic sectors.

To lead this effort, we will establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, with special powers to coordinate a cohesive economic and infrastructure plan for roads, schools, hospitals, security, local government, housing, land regularisation, tourism, agriculture, logistics and mining, and the creative industries.

This is our opportunity to purposefully build the Jamaica of the future, the Jamaica we all dream of, but which has long been constrained by structures of the past. Because of the strong economic foundation laid by my Administration, we have secured over US$6.7 billion in multilateral support for reconstruction and resilience. While this crisis will necessarily increase our debt, we will continue to be frugal and fiscally conservative. Every dollar spent will be geared towards inducing growth, restoring lost jobs, and recovering economic output in the shortest possible time.

For more than 40 years our nation struggled with an epidemic of violence, both organised violence by criminal gangs and social violence across the society. Entire communities were captured and terrorised. Your Government responded with Plan Secure Jamaica, transforming and expanding the JCF and JDF, creating Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), tripling the security budget, and implementing states of public emergency, and zones of special operations.

We can now claim the third consecutive year of decline in murders: 8 per cent in 2023, 19 per cent in 2024, and 42 per cent in 2025. Though approximately 670 Jamaicans were murdered last year, still far too many, we give thanks for the more than 470 lives spared compared to 2024. This is the lowest number of murders in 31 years, and well below the psychological barrier of 1,000.

This achievement belongs to all of us. It proves that Jamaica can overcome problems once considered impossible to solve, just as we achieved the lowest unemployment in our history, the lowest debt-to-gross domestic product ratio in 30 years, and no new taxes for the last 10 budgets.

The year behind us tested our nation in profound ways. Yet Jamaica enters this new chapter on a stronger footing than at any other time in our history. Let us use this foundation not only to rebuild, but to reimagine Jamaica.

May God bless each of you, and bless Jamaica, land we so deeply love.

Andrew Holness is prime minister of Jamaica.

Andrew Holness.